You can play an endless game of "what if", but at some point if you can't take the simple facts presented at face value, there is nothing to discuss. What if the pilot had a mini-stroke and came-to at the last minute? What if he was having a flash back to his days in a Cobra gunship?
What if?
If we can't get beyond the improbable [but remotely possible] scenarios, topics like this one have no basis, no foundation for discussion. In other words, [unlike the disciples of Kantishism would have it]...you just gotta take a small leap of faith here if you wanna have something to talk about.